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Mike is Matilda’s older brother by five years. He’s not nearly as intelligent as Matilda, and the narrator says that Mike has inherited Mr. Wormwood’s love of crime. Though Mike only appears briefly in the novel, he doesn’t seem like a bad kid—he’s the only one who looks back at Matilda when he leaves with their parents for Spain. He’s going to take over Mr. Wormwood’s used car business one day.
Michael “Mike” Wormwood Quotes in Matilda
The Matilda quotes below are all either spoken by Michael “Mike” Wormwood or refer to Michael “Mike” Wormwood. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1 Quotes
They had a son called Michael and a daughter called Matilda, and the parents looked upon Matilda in particular as nothing more than a scab. A scab is something you have to put up with until the time comes when you can pick it off and flick it away. Mr and Mrs Wormwood looked forward enormously to the time when they could pick their little daughter off and flick her away, preferably into the next county or even further than that.
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The narrator is introducing Matilda’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood. This comes right on the heels of the narrator noting that, as a general rule, parents adore their children far more than their children deserve. But with the Wormwoods, the narrator shows people breaking that rule—and doing so in the extreme. The narrator paints a picture of the Wormwoods as extremely neglectful of their children and as people who are unhappy in their roles as parents. Referring to Matilda as a “scab” evokes feelings of revulsion—as the narrator notes, scabs aren’t something most people enjoy having. Rather, they’re a necessary Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mol
Chapter 2 Quotes
“How long will it run like that before it starts rattling again?” Matilda asked him.
“Long enough for the buyer to get a good distance away,” the father said, grinning. “About a hundred miles.”
“But that’s dishonest, daddy,” Matilda said. “It’s cheating.”
“No one ever got rich being honest,” the father said. “Customers are there to be diddled.”
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Mr. Wormwood is explaining to Michael that he gets old, beaten-up cars running again by putting sawdust and oil in the gear box; this gets them going long enough for buyers to purchase the cars and drive them away. Matilda is listening from across the room. Matilda is right: what Mr. Wormwood is doing is extremely unethical. His customers believe they’re buying used cars that are in good condition and will run for thousands of miles—and as he notes here, cars he sells will only run for about a hundred. Matilda is far more interested in ethics, fairness, and justice Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus ha
Chapter 21 Quotes
Matilda leapt into Miss Honey’s arms and hugged her, and Miss Honey hugged her back, and then the mother and father and brother were inside the car and the car was pulling away with the tyres screaming. The brother gave a wave through the rear window, but the other two didn’t even look back.
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The Wormwoods are moving to Spain immediately, and Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood have just agreed to let Matilda stay in England with Miss Honey. First, the Wormwoods are moving because Mr. Wormwood’s unethical car business was probably discovered by authorities. This shows that Mrs. Wormwood’s insistence that she was safe and secure with a successful businessman as a husband was misguided. Her safety and security was always questionably reliable, as the novel made it clear on multiple occasions that Mr. Wormwood was at risk of being found out. Then, it’s worth considering what’s happening physically in this passage. As soon Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti ni
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Michael “Mike” Wormwood Character Timeline in Matilda
The timeline below shows where the character Michael “Mike” Wormwood appears in Matilda. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1. The Reader of Books
...Mr. Wormwood and his wife, Mrs. Wormwood, are like this. They have an older son, Michael, and a little daughter, Matilda. They hate Matilda in particular and are just waiting for...
(full context)
Now Michael is pretty normal. But Matilda is exceptional. By 18 months, she could speak perfectly, like...
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Matilda spends every afternoon alone while Michael is at school, Mr. Wormwood is at work, and Mrs. Wormwood plays bingo. On the...
(full context)
Chapter 2. Mr. Wormwood, the Great Car Dealer
...find a use for sawdust—he’ll explain it to her. Sure enough, Mr. Wormwood turns to Mike and says he loves buying old, beat-up cars. Even if the gears are shot, if...
(full context)
Chapter 5. Arithmetic
...to Matilda for about a week after the parrot incident. But then, as Matilda and Michael are waiting in the living room for their TV dinners, Mr. Wormwood marches in looking...
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After Michael fetches a pencil and paper, Mr. Wormwood reads off how much he paid for each...
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Chapter 6. The Platinum-Blonde Man
Later, Matilda and Michael are eating breakfast in the dining room while Mrs. Wormwood busily cooks up Mr. Wormwood’s...
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In a shriek, Mrs. Wormwood asks what Mr. Wormwood did to his hair. Michael joins in and shouts too; Matilda stays silent. Mr. Wormwood insists he doesn’t know what...
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Chapter 21. A New Home
...Mr. Wormwood agrees. Matilda leaps into Miss Honey’s arms and they watch the Wormwoods leave. Michael waves at Matilda out the window, but Mr. Wormwood and Mrs. Wormwood don’t look back.
(full context)
